“Our new title track is a song that suits the summer season. We had fun working on this song hoping that people would be listening to it as they were going off on their summer holidays.”

That’s how Yuju from the GFriend introduced the group’s title track, “Sunny Summer,” from their new mini album of the same name, which was released on July 19. The song is a cheerful dance pop number that captures the feelings of anticipation and excitement that you experience before going away for the summer. GFriend’s clear timbre stands out in the track.

GFriend came out with a new album after a mere three months of releasing their sixth mini album, TIME FOR THE MOON NIGHT, on April 30. After kicking things off this summer with their previous title track, “Time for the Moon Night,” the girls of GFriend are trying to reach “summer queen” status within the world of K-pop with their new single.

“We wanted to sing a refreshing song that could be enjoyed by our fans and many others alike during the humid and tiring summer season. We like doing promotional activities in the summer because we can also get strength and energy from the fans. By promoting a cool and refreshing single, we want to help others cool down along with us.” (Sowon)

GFriend / Photo = Source Music

“While some people like the emotional songs we’ve released such as ‘Time for the Moon Night’ and ‘Rough,’ there are also others who like our more energetic summer singles such as ‘Me Gustas Tu’ and ‘LOVE WHISPER.’ We’ve worked hard and prepared a lot to convey our bright and fresh energy.” (Umji)

The competition between girl groups has become more fierce than ever in the world of K-pop. It seems like nearly every girl group out there has been vying to fill the empty space left by SISTAR who were once considered to be the queens of summer. The music charts are currently being dominated by tight matches between girl groups like TWICE, BLACKPINK, and Mamamoo.

“‘Sunny Summer’ is a track that’s obviously a summer song. You could even say that ‘summer’ is the genre of the song. I think it would be perfect to listen to as you’re going off on vacation or to listen to in the car with the volume cranked up. All of the songs on this album are great for the summer season. We’ve made our comeback as ‘summer friends,’ equipped with vocals that are powerful and refreshing.”(Sowon)

“Time for the Moon Night” by GFriend is still on the upper half of the music charts. How does GFriend feel about that? According to the group, they hope that “’Sunny Summer’ comes in at a higher ranking than ‘Time for the Moon Night’ since GFriend should be the group to beat GFriend.”

“To be honest, you can’t not think about rankings when you make a comeback. There are people who think that as important as it is to give it your all during the preparation phase, the results are important as well. We’ve put our emphasis on our preparations and on our promotions. Of course, it’s also nice when the results are positive (laughs). We try not to be too attached to the rankings on the charts, but I think it would be more fun to do the promotional activities if we get a lot of love from the public.” (Umji)

Umji went on to say, “Our goal is to perfect another style of music and present it to more people.”

For “Sunny Summer,” GFriend worked with songwriting duo Double Sidekick for the first time since their debut. Double Sidekick has written hit song for SISTAR in the past, such as “I Swear” and “SHAKE IT.”

Sowon of GFriend / Photo = Source Music

“I liked songs that were written by Double Sidekick. Since they had written songs for SISTAR in the past, who is the first group that comes to mind when you think of the word ‘summer,’ when I heard that they would be writing songs for us, I was surprised. I really like the fact that they wrote a song with us in mind,” said Sowon. Yuju added, “I also heard a lot of songs written by Double Sidekick when I was in school, and I really liked them. When I heard that we would be working on a song with them, I was excited. Although it was our first time working together with them, they tried to make us feel at ease when we were recording.”

“It makes me happy when I hear our songs being played in the streets. I hope I get to hear ‘Sunny Summer’ a lot as well.”(SinB)

Since their debut in 2015 with the song “Glass Bead,” the group has released albums covering a variety of styles for the past three years and has worked nonstop. This past May, GFriend made their official debut in Japan and the girls have been maintaining a hectic schedule that involves them going back and forth from Korea to Japan.

When asked about whether it wasn’t exhausting to live with such a gruelling schedule, Umji replied, “There’s still a lot that we want to show people. We don’t get exhausted because the time that we get to spend making memories with our fans is precious to us. On days when we don’t have anything scheduled, we take time to recharge our batteries.”

“Of course, when I’m practicing, sometimes I question myself and ask ‘Why can’t I do this?’ There are times when I give myself headaches by overthinking things. But I start to enjoy myself again when I see the reactions from our fans right before we make our comeback. It feels new and different each time.” (Sowon)

It’s been four years since their debut, and GFriend has most certainly changed. The members say that they’ve “become sensitive in a good way.” They believe that one of the biggest things that has changed has to do with what happens right before they go on stage. Now, instead of relying on someone else, the members check on every minute detail themselves before they perform. They say that passion translates directly on to the stage.

“We’ve decided that our concept for this album will be ‘powerful and refreshing’ and ‘summer friends’. We’ll do our best to make sure that we make those things immediately come to mind. The summer friends will be taking the throne as the ‘queens of summer’ this year!”(Sowon)